


The Corners of the World Our Mere Prologue

by AspieCrow



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Multi, Will add more tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-04-17 01:43:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14177835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AspieCrow/pseuds/AspieCrow
Summary: The storm still happened.No matter what Max did with time, the storm was always going to exist. So she was going to go back. Not to when Nathan shot Chloe in the bathroom. Further.Far enough to save everyone.





	1. Back to Before The Beginning

The storm still happened.

 

The day after Max Caulfield had watched the love of her life be lowered into the ground and buried, when she had regained all of her memories about  everything that had happened, she had found out it had been utterly pointless. She had been forced to listen to the one person she loved more than anything die and it had changed absolutely nothing.

 

She had managed to make it to the lighthouse before she had completely shut down, utterly unable to process anything. She had stayed there until someone had found her late the next day, after the storm had cleared and rescue teams were able to search for survivors. From there, Max had been brought back to Seattle and moved back into her bedroom with her parents, where she had stayed for a week, practically catatonic.

 

And then, everything had snapped into place. She was able to fully deal with what had happened. Letting Chloe die hadn’t stopped the storm, so there was no reason to let that remain the case. From that point, she had one singular purpose; save Chloe, and mitigate the casualties of the storm. However, there was still one thing that crept into her thoughts and she was trying to plan out the exact way she could do that. Something that Chloe had said at the lighthouse continued to break her train of thought.

 

_“You were given a power. You didn’t ask for it...and you saved me. Which had to happen, all of this did...except for what happened to Rachel.”_

 

The more Max thought about things, the more that pushed its way to the front of her mind. What happened to Rachel _didn’t_ have to happen. Especially now that she had proof that it didn’t matter what Max did with time, the storm was _always_ going to exist. So why shouldn’t she stop that, too?

 

So, after incorporating that into her plans, Max laid out exactly what she was going to do from here. She was going to go back. Not to when Nathan shot Chloe in the bathroom. Further. Back far enough that she could save Rachel as well.

 

Back far enough to save _everyone_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins! I've had this idea in my head since I finished the first game, and the idea only expanded after playing "Before the Storm". It was just a case of working out exactly how things would go down.
> 
> Quick note: it'll probably not come up much, but I'm pushing forward the events of everything to 2017, for various reasons (mainly 'cause I'm worried about unintentional anachronisms).
> 
> Feedback is very much appreciated!


	2. Partner in Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With help from the last place she'd have expected, Chloe manages to end her months-long search.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy! Almost a year after I posted the last chapter! Sorry for the delay in this to anyone who's been sticking around for this; life's just been very busy!
> 
> Thankfully, though, I've just hit a bout of inspiration and so we're up and running again! I'm hoping to start Chapter 3 soon, and so there shouldn't be as long a delay between chapters again!

Chloe Price sat sprawled across her bed as the morning light shone through her bedroom window and she tried desperately to roll over onto her back and get up. This past while, it had gotten harder and harder to do so, and she knew _exactly_ why that was.

 

Ever since Rachel had just vanished almost three months ago, Chloe’s life had unravelled even more than it already was. She had stopped caring about anything other than finding Rachel. It had been a while since she had topped up her hair dye, so her roots were starting to show, she had been “self-medicating” more than she usually did, and most of all, Chloe’s temper was at an all-time high, with it having become practically impossible to spend any time that wasn’t out of the house or in her room (and not even that was a guarantee) by herself without Step-Douche getting into a pissing contest with her. Things were never great or even really good between Chloe and her mom’s new husband, but ever since Rachel had disappeared, things had gotten even worse. She could tell that he was glad that her girlfriend was gone, although he was making the barest of attempts to hide it, which was honestly the only reason that home was somewhat liveable. Chloe knew that, if he actually came out and said that he never liked Rachel and “maybe now you can actually make something of yourself” like she knew he wanted to, the wall of whatever little peace there was would come crashing down and she would punch him straight in that flat-top-haired face of his. And then, of course, Joyce would take _his_ side, and Chloe would be homeless on top of all the other shit she had to deal with.

 

Sighing as she actually managed to push herself into a sitting position, Chloe felt the familiar buzz of her phone. Grabbing for it desperately, hoping beyond hope that it would be Rachel letting her know that she was fine and where to meet up so she could tell Chloe why she had been gone for so long and exactly what had happened. Instead, Chloe was greeted by a text from the absolute last person she had expected.

 

**_From: MAX_ **

_Chloe, I need you to trust me._

**_From: ME_ ** _  
_

_max? the fuck?_

**_From: MAX_ **

_Please, Chloe._

**_From: ME_ ** _  
_

_we haven’t talked in years. why should i?_

**_From: MAX_ **

_I know where Rachel is._

**_From: ME_ ** _  
_

_THE FUCK?! how do you even know WHO Rachel is?_

**_From: MAX_ **

_Long story. Will explain everything when I get there._

**_From: ME_ ** _  
_

_when you GET here?_

**_From: MAX_ **

_On my way but can’t get there in time. Sending you directions to a barn. There’s a locked trapdoor in it. Break the lock and get in. There’ll be a door you need a code for. Code is 542. Rachel is in there, but you need to deal with the gun first. He’ll be back before you can get Rachel out & the police come. Gun is in the desk, but don’t keep it. Just put it somewhere it’ll take a while to find. Don’t bring David’s gun either. Police will get there shortly after he does. I’ll be there a couple of hours later._

**_From: ME_ ** _  
_

_max what the fuck’s goin on?_

**_From: MAX_ **

_I promise, I’ll explain everything. Just please, for now, trust me. Love you._

 

Chloe sat there, unsure of exactly what was going on. If she had been told even ten minutes earlier that she would not only hear from Max again after years of no contact, but that Max would tell her that she knew where Rachel was, she would have laughed and yet, here she was. She had no idea if she even believed her old best friend, but the second that Max sent her the directions to the barn that she mentioned, she was pulling her jacket, beanie and boots on, already half-out the door, ignoring shouts from David as she got into her truck and tore out of the driveway in the direction she was given.

 

Because it was Max. And it was Rachel.

 

*        *        *

 

All in all, it hadn’t taken her that long to get to the barn, but it had still been far too long for Chloe’s liking. She just barely remembered to turn off and lock the truck when she jumped from it, grabbing the metal baseball bat she kept underneath the seat as she did. She quickly found the trapdoor (the fact that she had been looking for it had helped with that) and used the bat to smash the lock. She took the stairs down three at a time and punched the code Max gave her into the keypad lock so hard that it nearly broke. When the door opened, Chloe would have been surprised that Max was right if she wasn’t already so preoccupied. She made her way through the storage room, then saw the desk straight in front of her and, remembering Max’s warning about the gun, made a beeline straight for it and, sure enough, found a gun in the drawer. Quickly taking the gun and ejecting the magazine, Chloe took her first proper look around the bunker that she had walked into, and that was when her stomach sank.

 

To her left, Chloe saw a large white backdrop with a chair in front of it and duct-taped to that chair was the entire reason that the blue-haired girl had broken in here.

 

Rachel Amber did not look in good shape. Dressed only in her underwear, duct-tape also covered her mouth and there were angry red marks covering her body. Worst of all, she looked barely conscious, and her head was lolling, which Chloe could tell meant that she was probably high on something. For a split second, Chloe saw red, more furious than she had ever been at whoever it was who had done this to her angel, but that anger was overtaken by the overwhelming importance Chloe realized there was in stopping what was happening. Sprinting over to the chair and then dropping the bat by her side, Chloe began taking off the duct tape as carefully as possible, starting with the gag.

 

“Hey, Rach...” she whispered, trying to calm Rachel when the presence of another person made her snap to attention and start struggling weakly, “it’s me. It’s Chloe. Don’t worry, alright? We’ll be outta here in no time.”

 

“C...Chloe?” came the response, slurred and so barely audible that it broke Chloe’s heart, “I’m...I’m sorry...he tricked me...”

 

“Don’t think about that now,” Chloe assured her, even if she was confused by what her girlfriend was saying, “I’m gettin’ you outta here and the fucker that did this is gonna pay.”

 

“N-no!” Rachel snapped suddenly, louder than Chloe had expected, causing her to jump a little, “no, you need to go now! Jefferson’ll kill you!”

 

“Jefferson?” Chloe couldn’t help the familiar name from slipping out of her mouth, “your hipster snob photography teacher?”

 

“I’m sorry you think so little of me, Miss Price,” came a voice from behind them, making Rachel’s eyes widen in fear and Chloe spin around to come face-to-face with the bespectacled Mark Jefferson, photography teacher at Blackwell Academy.

 

 _“and kidnapping pervert,”_ Chloe mentally added.

 

“Now how on earth did you find your way to my darkroom?” his snide question came, practically dripping out of his mouth in false affability.

 

“Fuck you,” Chloe’s response was sharp and hate-filled.

 

“Mister Jefferson...” Rachel’s weak voice carried over Chloe’s shoulder, “please...don’t hurt her...”

 

“Shut up, slut!” Jefferson was quickly losing that geniality. And with that, addressing Rachel, the girl he had abducted and kept locked away for months doing stuff that she didn’t want to think about to her was enough for the red to return to Chloe’s vision.

 

“I’M GONNA RIP YOUR FUCKING DICK OFF, MOTHERFUCKER!”

 

Picking the bat up once again, Chloe made a mad dash across the room, covering the distance between them. Jefferson made for the open drawer, having just enough time to let out a confused “What?” when his hand didn’t find the gun before Chloe connected the bat to his leg, collapsing him onto the ground. Jefferson managed to grab the bat before Chloe could swing it again, however, and wrenched it out of her hands, flipping her over onto the ground and climbing on top of her, then wrapping his hands around her throat.

 

“Just as well,” Jefferson hissed as he began to squeeze, “I had enough of you faux-punk sluts in my Seattle days.”

 

Then, just as Chloe’s vision began to blur and darken and she could no longer hear Rachel’s pleas, though she knew they were there, the pressure around her neck left and she was able to roll over and breathe again. Blinking a few times, she was able to focus on the world once more, and was greeted to the sight of a couple of police officers dealing with a very uncooperative Mister Jefferson, with one more making their way over to were Rachel was still tied up.

 

Pushing herself to her feet, coughing all the way, Chloe made her way over to Rachel, grasping her hand and not letting go even when she was put onto a gurney and brought upstairs to a waiting ambulance. Chloe stayed by her side all the way to the hospital. It was only when the doctors and nurses told her that they needed to perform tests to see what exactly had happened to Rachel while Jefferson held her captive that Chloe even let her out of her sight and allowed them to check her for injuries as well. She knew that, as soon as she was able to, she would be right back at her girlfriend’s side, determined to make sure that Rachel knew that she was safe again. Because, while they were both hurt, damaged and incredibly messed up, they were alive.

 

And that was enough for Chloe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm gonna be clear about something; in addition to the obvious "saving Rachel" change, I'm also making some minor changes to other stuff, like Rachel's relationship with Frank and Jefferson. Personally, I don't see them as changes so much as getting the full story, but it's definitely a case of things we thought were one way actually weren't (in the fic, anyway), so I just wanted to make sure everybody was on the same page!
> 
> Also, yes, the "faux-punk sluts" line is from the game itself.
> 
> As always, feedback is very much appreciated!


End file.
